Slasher creel apparatus



Jan. 2, 1962 w. B. CROXTON ETAL 3,015,147

SLASHER CREEL APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 16v 1957 Jan. 2, 1962 w. B. CROXTON ETAL 3,

SLASHER CREEL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FEE-= H0 H0: I I. E INVENTORS WILLIAM B-CROXTONMBhd Pobam' d. HOLSHOUSEE.

Am vim? ATTORNEY-3 1962 w. B. CROXTON ETAL 3,015,147

SLASHER CREEL APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1957 4 Sheets*Sheet 5 I us WILLIAM bCsaoxmmamQ ROBERT J HoLs Hous ER, INVENTORS.

BY QL VSQ ZA -i W ATTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1962 w. B. CROXTON ETAL 3,015,147

SLASHER CREEL APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 16, 1957 "mam I T NS OUE MW 0 P5 o .H 7 b. d Q m M O W? m /L Minn", wimwmgw ATTORNEYS sates Ratent ice lina

Filed Aug. 16, 1957, Ser. No. 678,479 11 Claims. (Cl. 2S--28) This invention relates to an apparatus for replenishing an exhausted set of web supplying means while feeding webs from a second set of web supplying means so that the first web supplying means can be replenished and ready to supply web material upon exhaustion of the Web material fed from the second set.

Heretofore, great amounts of time have been lost during the replenishing of exhausted web supplying means, such as for example when changing the section beams of a slasher creel which feed a supply of yarn to a slasher where the yarn is treated with a size solution prior to weaving or further processing. Heretofore, slasher creels were built to support a single set of section beams and the slasher had to be stopped each time the yarn on the section beams was exhausted to exchange the exhausted set of section beam for fully wound section beams.

In order to reduce the amount of time lost in replacing the exhausted section beams of a single creel, auxiliary creels have been used which are fully loaded with section beams while the main creel is feeding yarn to the slasher. Upon the main creel becoming exhausted of yarn, it is moved out of position and replaced by the auxiliary creel. This arrangement has not been widely adopted because many mills do not have sufiicient floor space to accommodate auxiliary creels. Also, in many cases the expenditure necessary to provide auxiliary creels and the necessary equipment to move the creels was not justified by the time saved.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a double-deck slasher supply creel wherein either the upper or lower set of section beams may be replenished while the opposite set of section beams are feeding yarns t the slasher to thus always have a set of full section beams ready to supply yarn to the slasher without a delay between the running of each set of yarns through the slasher except to tie the ends together.

It is another object of this invention to provide a double-deck slasher supply creel for supporting two sets of superposed section beams where at least the lower set is removably mounted beneath the upper set of section beams so that exhausted lower section beams may be replaced by filled section beams While supplying yarn from the upper set of section beams.

It is another object of this invention to provide a yarn guiding and tying-in section in conjunction with the double-deck section beam support creel for guiding the set of yarns from either the upper or lower section beams and which tying-in section is provided with means to hold the alined yarn ends from the idle set of beams prior to their being fed to the slasher.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a double-deck slasher supply creel with means on at least the lower section for moving the section beams in the lower deck longitudinally of the creel so that the lower section beams may be changed without disturbing the normal feeding operation of the section beams in the upper deck. The lower deck beam moving means comprises longitudinally extending trackways at opposite ends of the lower section beams, dollies supporting 0pposite ends of the section beams and movable along said trackways and locking means for securing the dollies in fixed positions along the trackways.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration of a conventional slasher and showing the double-deck slasher supply creel associated therewith;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the slasher supply creel shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view through the double-deck slasher supply creel being taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged elevation, with parts in section, of one of the dollies supporting the section beams and taken substantially along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional plan view taken substantially along the line 55 in FIGURE FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through a dolly supporting a section beam and being taken substantially along the line 66 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an elevation of the dolly, looking at the right-hand side of the dolly shown in FIGURE 6 and showing the dolly moved longitudinally along the track.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated one type of slasher with which the double-deck slasher supply creel, indicated broadly at 10, may be associated. A sheet or web of yarns Y-l is illustrated as being fed from the lower set of section beams of the slasher supply creel l5} and to the lower heated roll 12 of a yann pre-heater 13. The yarns Y-Il extend from the roll 12 to partially surround an upper heated roll 14"and from the roll 14, beneath an intake guide roll 15 rotatably mounted at the intake side of a conventional size box 20. The size box is adapted to hold a mixture of size and is provided with the usual immersion roll and squeeze rolls for applying a heated size mixture to the yarns Y-l to make the yarn smoother and stronger to stand the strain of weaving and for other well known specialized reasons.

From the size box 20, the yarn Y-l extends over an output guide roll 21 rotatably mounted on the size box 20 to partially surround rotatable heated rolls 25' mounted on a yarn drying stand 26. The heated rolls 25 on the yarn drying stand 26 are provided to dry the sized yarn prior to it being placed on a warp or loom beam B mounted on a frame 39. The frame 30' is usually provided with lease rods, not shown, through which the yarns are passed so that each individual end of yarn will be separated from any adjacent yarns adhered thereto by the size solution. The yams Y-ll are thus wound onto the loom beam B in a sheet or web so that each yarn is positioned to properly feed from the beam B through a loo-m during the weaving operation.

While the slasher supply oreel It) is shown feeding a sheet or web of yarns to a particular type of slasher, it is to be understood that the various component parts of the slasher, such as the pre-heating stand 13, size box 20, heating stand 26 or beam frame 30 may be substituted for other conventional, well known, parts. The slasher supply creel may also be used to supply web material other than yarns to any type web consuming apparatus where the webs from the individual supply beams are woven together or laminated without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The slasher supply creel 10' includes a tying-in section and a double-deck section beam support section on the front end of which the tying-in section 35 is supported.

The double or two deck beam support section 40 is includes spaced parallel lower trackways and 50 (FIG- URES 3 and 5) and which extend longitudinally of the lower portion of the two deck beam support section 40 and are supported at spaced positions on the inner ends of respective support brackets 52 and 52. The support brackets 52 and 52' are connected at their outer ends to the sides of spaced vertical frame members or supports 55 and 55. The lower ends of the supports 55 and 55 are suitably secured to respective base rails 56 and 56 which are adapted to support the two deck beam support section 4% of the slasher supply creel 16 on any suitable surface, such as the floor. The base rails 56 and 56 are spaced apart from each other by a plurality of longitudinallly spaced transversely extending pipes 60 the opposite ends of which abut against the inner surfaces of the base rails 56 and 56. The base rails 56 and 56 are held against opposite ends of the pipe 66 by suitable tie rods 62 which penetrate the pipes 60 and the lower ends of the supports 55 and 55 to support the base rails 56 and 56' in spaced fixed relationship to each other and support the lower ends of the vertical supports 55 and 55'.

Respective bearing support rails 65 and 65 (FIGURES 3 and are suitably supported on the spaced vertical supports 55 and 55' closely adjacent and slightly above the base rails 56 and 56 and on which a plurality of respective bearings 67 and 6-7 are suitably secured. The bearings 67 and 67 are spaced longitudinally along the respective support rails 65 and 65 and rotatably support opposite ends of lower web guide rolls 70. The vertical supports 55 and 55 are provided with upper bearing support members 75 and 75 respectively which the suitably secured to the vertical supports 55 and 55' and each of which supports a pair of respective bearings 77 and 77' (FIGURE 3) in which opposite ends of upper Web guiding rolls 80' are rotatably mounted. The upper ends of the vertical supports 55 and 55 have the outer ends of respective upper support brackets 82 and 82 fixed thereto and the inner ends of which support upper trackways 83 and 83 which are suitably secured to the respective upper support brackets 82 and 82' respectiveiy.

The upper tracks 83 and 83 terminate closely adjacent the rearmost vertical supports 55 and 55' (FIGURES 1 and 2) while the lower tracks 51) and 51)" extend beyond the rearmost vertical supports 55 and 55 and the ends of the lower tracks 50 and 59 are suitably supported on respective support brackets 52 and 52' the outer ends of which are suitably secured to the upper end of relatively short vertical supports 85 and 85' (FIGURES 2 and 5).

The upper ends of the vertical supports 55 and 55 are spaced from each other and suitably braced to prevent sidewise motion thereto by longitudinally spaced transversely extending upper bracing members 88 (FIGURE 3) opposite ends of which are suitably connected to respective bridging members 90 and 90 fixed to the inner surface of each of the vertical supports 55 and 55 respectively.

A plurality of respective lower and upper section beams 92 and 93 are rotatably mounted adjacent opposite ends in suitable dollies indicated broadly at 100 and 100' which are identical to each other and which are mounted on the respective tracks 50, 5t) and 83, 83 for longitudinal movement therealong. The dollies 190 and 100" are provided with means to lock them along the tracks 50, 5e, 83 and 83 at a plurality of stations or positions, to be later described.

Opposite ends of each of the section beams 92 and 93 are provided with shaft portions 101 and 101' opposite ends of which are suitably supported on the dollies 1% and (1' for rotation in suitable self-alining bearings 193 and 103' mounted on the shafts 101 and 101 (FIGURE 6). Since the dollies ltlt) and 100 are identical, only the dolly 100 will be described in detail and like reference characters with the prime notation added will apply to the parts of the dolly 100. The bearing 103 is supported in an upstanding bearing seat or support 104 extending upwardly from a lateral or width adjusting member 1135 which is a part of the dolly 100*. The adjustment member 105 is provided with a downwardly extending portion 106 adjacent one end thereof and a dove-tail groove adapted to slidably engage a dove-tail slide 107 (FIGURE 4) integral with the upper portion of a body 110 of the dolly 100. The body 111) is provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced shafts 112 and 113 suitably penetrating and fixed in the body 110 at the front and rear ends thereof. Each end of each of the shafts 112 and 113 has grooved wheels 1114 rotatably mounted thereon to support the dolly 106 for rolling movement along the respective tracks 56, 51%, 83 and 33.

An adjustment wheel 115 is fixed on the end of a threaded adjustment shaft 116 and which penetrates the downwardly extending portion 106 of the adjustment member 105 and has a collar 12%} fixed therearound adjacent the opposite side of the downwardly extending portion 166. The inner end of the shaft 116 is threadably mounted in a medial portion of the body 116 (FIGURE 6) so that upon rotation of the adjustment wheel in one direction, the adjustment member 195 will be moved in a corresponding direction to position the bearing support 104 in a different position relative to the body 110 of the dolly 10%). With rotation of the adjustment wheel in the opposite direction, the adjustment member 105 will be moved in the opposite direction, relative to the body 114) of the dolly 1%, and move the bearing support 104 in the opposite direction from the direction previously moved. The body 111 is provided with an undercarriage 122 (FIGURES 4, 6 and 7) which is integral with the body portion 110 and extends downwardly therefrom and between the vertical rails of each of the tracks 50, 5t), 83 and 83'. The undercarriage 122 is provided with a bore 123 adapted to at times receive the shaft of a locking pin 125 provided with a head or cross piece 126 fixed in one end thereof. The locking pin 125 is provided with a chain 130 connected to one end thereof and the opposite end of which is suitably connected to the tracks 56', 5t), 83 and 83' at spaced intervals longitudinally thereof and in close relationship to suitable holes 131 (FIGURE 7) which penetrate the vertical legs of both the lower and upper tracks. When the locking pin 125 is in the position shown in FIGURE 6 so that it penetrates the holes "131 in the track 5% and also penetrates the bore 123 in the undercarriage 122 of the dolly 101 the dolly 100 will be locked in fixed relationship to the track so that relative movement therebetween may not be affected and thus support the corresponding section beam 92 or 93 in a fixed position, for rotation, relative to the track.

It will be noted that the upper section beams 93 ar equally spaced from each other and the lower section beams 52 are equally spaced from each other and in staggered or ofiset relationship beneath the upper section beam 93 and that the rearmost lower section beam 92 is positioned rearwardly of the last or rearmost vertical supports 55 and 55 and rearwardly of the rearmost upper section beam 93. Since the rearmost lower section beam 92 is positioned rearwardly of the rearmost upper section beam 93, it may be lifted out of the dollies 100 and 100", supporting opposite ends thereof by a suitable hoist, fork lift truck or the like, not shown. The lifting of the rear most lower section beam 92 will not interfere with oper-- ation of any of the upper section beams 93. Since the lower tracks 51% and 50' extend rearwardly beyond the. upper tracks 83 and 83 the extension of the lower tracks 50 and 5%, between the last vertical supports 55 and 55" and the relatively short vertical supports $5 and 35, may be termed a lower deck loading and unloading Zone.

Of course, the lower rearmost section beam 92 may be lifted from the dollies 10%, 100' while the dollies are in the position shown in FIGURE 2 or the dollies 160, 1% may be moved further rearwardly from this position to remove the section beam 52 therefrom. The loading and unloading zone, between the vertical supports 55, 55' and 85, 85', is provided with respective dolly storage tracks 135 and 135' (FIGURE 5), for purposes to be later described, suitably connected at opposite ends to the respective support brackets 52 and 52' which are connected to the respective vertical supports 55, 55 and 85, 85.

The tying-in section 35 is merely illustrative of one type of framework which may be employed for feeding the yarns alternately from the lower and upper decks of the two deck beam support section 40 and this invention is in no way intended to be limited to the particular tyingin section shown. The tying-in section 35 includes identical frames at each side of the slasher supply creel 1t) and only the frame at the right-hand side is shown in FIGURES l and 2. The tying-in frame includes an upper horizontal member 140 one end of which is suitably connected to the upper end of the foremost or front vertical support 55 and the opposite end of which is suitably secured to the upper end of a forward vertical frame member 141. The vertical frame member 141 is suitably secured at its lower end to the front end of a lower horizontal frame member 14 2 the opposite end of which is fixed to the lower end of the foremost or front vertical support 55 and is supported on the floor on which the base rails 56 and 56' are supported. A take-up reel 145 is rotatably mounted on one end of a support member 146 the opposite end of which is fixedly secured intermediate the ends of the front vertical support 55 and the support 146 is supported by a brace 147 connected to the support member 14-6 and the vertical support 55. A vertical support post 159 is suitably connected at one end to a medial portion of the upper frame member 14%) and at the lower end to the support member 146 and the post 159 supports suitable pegs or pins on which suitable lease rods 151 are supported to segregate the yarns extending from each section beam. The tying-in section frame is provided with fixed position rotatable yarnguiding rolls 155 through 159 and a removable rotatable yarn guiding roll 16b for alternately guiding the yarns from the upper and lower sets of section beams to any suitable or desired web treating process or machine, in a manner to be later described. A platform 161 may be suitably secured to the frame member 142 for the operator to stand on while grouping the yarn ends on the take-up rolls 145 so that he will not interfere with the yarns passing therebeneath from the lower set of section beams 92.

In operation, with the web of yarns being fed to the slasher from the lower set of section beams 92, the yarns from each beam 92 will be led from the beam 92 and beneath the first lower web guide roll 70, over the next web guide roll 70 and alternately beneath and above the remaining guide rolls 70 and will join the yarns extending from the next succeeding section beam 92 so that the desired number of ends will be supplied by combining the ends from each of the lower section beams 92 to pass beneath the last lower web guide roll 70 and beneath the guide roll 156. The web of yarns from the lower set of beams 92, indicated at Y-1, extends from the roll 156,

over the roll 157, to the pre-heater or yarn dryer 13, the size box 15, the drying stand 26, the warper frame 30 and are taken up on the warp beam B.

.As the yarns are fed along the pathway Y-1 from the lower set of section beams 92, the yarns from the upper section beams 93 may be threaded up and the ends held on the take-up roll 145 as indicated at Y-Z in FIGURE 2. The yarns from each section beam 93 are threaded downwardly and beneath the first upper web guide roll 81 over the next succeeding guide roll 80 and alternately beneath and above the remaining guide rolls 80 and the yarn ends from the remaining upper section beam 93 will be uided in a similar manner beneath and above the guide rolls 80 to be segregated by lease rods 151 and pass over the same to be secured on the take-up roll 145 by the operator. The operator may then rotate the take-up roll 145 to take up any slack in the yarns Y-2 between the take-up roll 145 and their respective upper section beams 93 preparatory to tying on this leading end of the yams Y2, held on the take-up roll 145, to the trailing end of the yarns Y-1 upon the lower set of section beams 92 becoming exhausted.

As soon as the yarn on' the set of lower section beams 92 is almost exhausted, the operator may stop the slasher, cut the yarns Y-1 between the guide roll 156 and the last lower guide roll 70, take the trailing end of the yarns Y-1 extending from the pro-heater 13 and thread them beneath the roll 157 and over the upper guide roll 158, out the yarns Y-2 closely adjacent the take-up roll 145 and tie the leading ends of the yarns Y-Z, extending from the upper section beams 93, to the trailing end of the yarns (-1 and again start the slasher so that the yarn Will then be supplied to the slasher from the upper set of section beams 93 along the dotted line pathway Y3 in FIG- URE 2. Thus, the yarns will then pass over the guide rolls 157, 158 and 159 to the pre-heater 13, over the guide roll 15 and through the size box 29.

While the slasher is being fed the web of yarns from the upper set of section beams 93, the exhausted lower set of section beams 92 may be exchanged for full or replenished section beams in the following manner. The locking pins may be removed from the dollies 100 and 1% supporting the rearmost section beam 92 and the dollies rolled rearwardly along the tracks 59 and 55] so that the section beam 92 may be lifted, the dollies 1th) and 1% may then be removed from the tracks 59 and 5t) and placed on the dolly storage tracks and 135' so that they will then be out of the way and off the respective tracks 51 and 5b. This process may then be repeated for each succeeding lower section beam 92 until all of the exhausted section beams 92 have been removed from the lower tracks 56 and 55*. A reverse or refilling operation is then started by placing a pair of dollies 14th and 1% on the respective tracks 5% and 50', in the loading zone, a fully wound lower section beam 92 may then be placed in supported position on the dollies 109 and 1% so that the bearings 103 on the shaft 101 engage the bearing supports 1%. The dollies 1G0 and 100 may be rolled forwardly along the tracks 59 and 50 until they are positioned so that the bore 123 therein is in alinement with the forwardmost holes 131 in the tracks 50 and 50' and the locking pins 125 inserted into the respective dollies 1th) and 106 to lock the first lower section beam 92 in the forward position.

This loading operation may then be repeated the desired number of times to space a plurality of lower section beams 92 along the tracks 50 and 5h. The yarn ends from each of the lower section beams 92 are then threaded alternately beneath and above the rolls 70 to pass beneath the roll 155 along a dotted line pathway Y-d (FIGURE 2), to the lease rods 151 and take-up roll 1 35. The yarn ends may be threaded forwardly from the lower section beams in any suitable manner and it has been found that one method may include bunc-hing groups of yarn ends at each of the section beams 92 and passing these bunched ends downwardly beneath the first lower web guide roll 79, over the next roll 7-3 and then alternately below and over the rolls 7% The yarns are all passed beneath the forwardmost roll 70, beneath the guide roll 155, over the roll 160, through the lease rods 151 and secured to the take-up roll 145. Of course, during this operation of replacing the lower section beams 92 and threading the yarns therefrom and to the take-up roll 145, the slasher is being fed a supply of yarn ends from the upper set of section beams 93 along the pathway Y3.

When the upper set of section beams are nearly exhausted, the slasher will be stopped and the web or" yarns Y3 extending from the upper section beams 93 will be out between the guide rolls 158 and 159 and the trailing end of the yarns extending into the slasher will be passed over the roll 157 beneath the roll 156, the yarns from the lower section beams 92 cut close to the take-up roll and tied onto the trailing ends of the yarns extending into the slasher. The yarns will then be fed to the slasher along the pathway Y-l from the lower section beams ?2.

While the slasher is being fed a supply of yarns from the lower section beams 92 along the pathway Y-l, the exhausted upper section beams 93 may be replaced with filled section beams 93 by lifting the exhausted section beams 93 from their dollies res and 1% with a hoist or other means without changing the position of the dollies and replacing the exhausted beams with filled beams 3. The exhausted beams may also be replaced in a manner similar to the way the lower beams 92 are replaced, if desired, by lifting and removing the rearmost exhausted section beam 93 from its dollies, removing the locking pins 125 in the dollies 100 and 100 supporting the next beam 93 so that the dollies may be moved rearwardly along the tracks 83 and 83' to a position so that this exhausted beam may then be lifted by the hoist, not shown, and removed from the dollies tilt) and ill-fl. This process may be repeated until all of the exhausted beams are removed and full or replenished warp beams 93 may then be lifted onto the dollies, starting with the forwardmost dollies 1G0 and Mil. The dollies may then be successively rolled forwardly along the tracks 83 and 33 to the proper position and the dollies are then locked in the desired position by the locking pin 125. After the upper deck of section beams 93 have been replaced by full section beams the individual ends may then be led forwardly, in the manner previously described, and held on the take-up roll 145, preparatory to feeding the ends to the slasher when the yarns on the lower set of beams 92 are exhausted.

It is thus seen that a double-deck slasher supply creel has been provided which has a set of upper beams and a set of lower beams supported thereon in such a manner that either set of section beams may be removed while the other set is running or supplying yarn to a suitable yarn consuming apparatus without disturbing the opcration of the running set. The creel is also provided with a tying-in section for preparing and grouping the individual yarns from either set of section beams while the other set of section beams are supplying yarn to the yarn consuming apparatus. Although the upper and lower decks of section beams are shown in parallel relationship to each other, it is to be understood that these section beams could be disposed in angular relationship to each other, that is, the upper tracks 83 and 83' may extend downwardly toward their forward ends while the lower tracks Sil and 59 may extend upwardly at their forward ends. Also it is not necessary to the present invention that the lower section beams 92 be vertically positioned in offset relationship to the upper section beams @3 since these beams 92, could be spaced directly beneath the upper section beams 3 if desired.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. A slasher supply creel comprising a frame, a top set of yarn supply beams mounted transversely of said frame and longitudinally spaced from each other, a pair of spaced parallel tracks mounted longitudinally on said frame and spaced beneath the top beams, a plurality of dollies mounted for rolling movement along said tracks, a bottom set of yarn supply beams rotatably mounted at opposite ends on a dolly on each of said tracks, and looking means engageable with each of said dollies and said tracks for preventing rolling movement of the dollies along the tracks.

2. A slasher supply creel comprising a frame, a top set of yarn supply beams mounted transversely of said frame and longitudinally spaced from each other, a pair of spaced parallel tracks mounted longitudinally on said frame and spaced beneath the top beams, a plurality of dollies mounted for rolling movement along said tracks, a bottom set of yarn supply beams rotatably mounted at opposite ends on a dolly on each of said tracks, said tracks having a plurality of holes therein spaced longitudinally along the tracks, and locking pins engageable with said dollies and the holes in said tracks for preventing rolling movement of the dollies along the tracks.

3. A slasher supply creel comprising a frame, a pair of spaced parallel top tracks mounted longitudinally on said frame, a plurality of top dollies mounted for rolling movement along said top tracks, a top set of yarn supply beams rotatably mounted at opposite ends on a dolly on each of said top tracks, locking means engageable with each of said dollies and said top tracks for preventing rolling movement of the dollies along the top tracks, a pair of spaced parallel bottom tracks mounted longitudinally on said frame and spaced beneath the top tracks, a plurality of bottom dollies mounted for rolling movement along the bottom tracks, a bottom set of yarn supply beams rotatably mounted at opposite ends on a dolly on each of said bottom tracks, and locking means engageable with each of said dollies and said bottom tracks for preventing rolling movement of the dollies along the bottom tracks.

4. In a structure according to claim 3 wherein each of the dollies has a bore therethrough and the top and bottom tracks each have a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes therein, and the locking means comprises a locking pin extending through corresponding holes in the tracks and the bore in the dolly.

5. A slasher supply creel comprising a section beam supporting frame, a tying-in frame at one end of said ,beam support frame, a top set of yarn supply beams mounted on said beam support frame, a bottom set of yarn supply beams mounted below said top yarn supply beams, top yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said top yarn supply beams to form a top composite web of yarns, bottom yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said bottom yarn supply beams to form a bottom composite web of yarns, top web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at times, guiding the top Web to said slasher, bottom Web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at other times, guiding the bottom web to said slasher, and a take-up roll mounted on said tying-in frame beneath said top web guide rolls and above said bottom Web guide rolls for grouping and holding the web of yarns from either said top set of beams or said bottom set of beams while guiding a web of yarns to said slasher from the other of said sets of beams.

6. A slasher supply creel comprising a section beam supporting frame, a tying-in frame at one end of said beam support frame, a beam loading and unloading platform at the other end of said beam support frame, a top set of yarn supply beams mounted on said beam support frame, a bottom set of yarn supply beams mounted below said top yarn supply beams, top yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said top set of yarn supply beams to form a top composite Web of yarns, bottom yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said bottom set of yarn supply beams to form a bottom composite Web of yarns, top web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at times, guiding the top web to said slasher, bottom web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at other times guiding the bottom web to said slasher, a take-up roll mounted on said tying-in frame beneath said top web guide rolls and above said bottom web guide rolls for grouping and holding the web of yarns from either said top set of beams or said bottom set of beams While guiding a web of yarns to said slasher from the other of said sets of beams, and means on said beam support frame for moving said bottom beams longitudinally of said frame and for successively moving said bottom beams onto the earn loading and unloading platform.

7. A slasher supply creel comprising a section beam supporting frame, a tying-in frame at one end of said beam support frame, a top set of yarn supply beams mounted on said beam support frame, a pair of tracks beneath the top beams spaced apart from each other and longitudinally mounted on said beam support frame, a plurality of dollies mounted for rolling movement along each of said tracks, a bottom set of yarn supply beams mounted at opposite ends on the dollies, said tracks having a plurality of holes spaced longitudinally thereof, locking pins engageable with said holes and said dollies to prevent rolling movement of the dollies along the tracks, top yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said top set of yarn supply beams to form a top composite Web of yarns, bottom yarn guiding means for guiding yarns drawn from each of said bottom set of yarn supply beams to form a bottom composite web of yarns, top web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at times, guiding the top web to said slasher, bottom web guiding rolls on said tying-in frame for, at other times, guiding the bottom web to said slasher, and a take-up roll mounted on said tying-in frame beneath said top Web guide rolls and above said bottom web guide rolls for grouping and holding the web of yarns from either said top set of beams or said bottom set of beams while guiding a web of yarns to said slasher from the other of said sets of beams.

8. In a structure according to claim 7 wherein each of said dollies comprise a body, front and rear pairs of wheels mounted in said body and in rolling engagement with the corresponding one of said tracks, a beam support member mounted for lateral movement on said body, and manually operable adjustment means engageable with the body and the beam support member for adjusting the lateral position of the support member relative to the body.

9. A Web supply creel for supplying web material to a web consuming apparatus comprising a frame, a first plurality of Web supply means mounted on said frame, a second plurality of Web supply means beneath said first plurality of web supply means, means supporting each of said second web supply means comprising said second plurality of web supply means for longitudinal movement independently of each other beneath said first web supply means during the feeding of the Web material from the first web supply means to the Web consuming apparatus, said supporting means comprising a track extending lengthwise of said frame beneath said first plurality of web supply means, individual rolling means carrying each of said second Web supply means, each of said rolling means being in rolling engagement with said track, and means to releasably lock each of said rolling means in fixed position on said track for preventing longitudinal movement of said second web sup ply means carried thereby.

10. A web supply creel for supplying web material to a web consuming apparatus comprising a frame, a first set of web supply beams mounted on said frame, a second set of web supply beams disposed below said first set of web supply beams, means supporting each of said web supply beams comprising said second set for longitudinal movement independently of each other beneath said first set of Web supply beams during the feeding of the Web material from the first set of web supply beams to the Web consuming apparatus, said supporting means com prising a track extending lengthwise of said frame below and beyond said first set of Web supply beams, and the portion of said track extending beyond said first set of web supply beams defining a beam loading and unloading platform for receiving each of said web supply beams of said second set upon exhaustion of the Web material therefrom to facilitate replacement of said second set of web supply beams while the web material from said first set of web supply beams is being fed to the web consuming apparatus.

11. A slasher supply creel comprising a frame, a first set of yarn supply beams mounted on said frame, a second set of yarn supply beams disposed below said first set of yarn supply beams, first yarn guiding means for drawing yarn from each of said first set of yarn supply beams to form a first composite Web of yarn, second yarn guiding means for drawing yarn from each of said second set of yarn supply beams to form a second composite Web of yarn, means supporting each of said yarn supply beams comprising said second set for longitudinal movement independently of each other beneath said first set of yarn supply beams during the feeding of the first composite web formed from said first set of yarn supply beams to a slasher, said supporting means comprising a track extending lengthwise of said frame below and beyond said first set of yarn supply beams, and the portion of said track extending beyond said first set of yarn supply beams defining a beam loading and unloading platform for receiving each of said yarn supply beams of said second set upon exhaustion of the yarn therefrom to facilitate replacement of said second set of yarn supply beams While the first composite Web formed of yarn from said first set of yarn supply beams is being fed to the slasher.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 471,788 Farnsworth Mar. 29, 1892 1,464,463 Wood Aug. 7, 1923 1,778,332 Meyer Oct. 14, 1930 2,036,744 Cook Apr. 7, 1936 2,219,804 Boyce Oct. 29, 1940 2,389,443 Lyle Nov, 20, 1945 2,726,827 Ammerall Dec. 13, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 894 Great Britain of 1871 281,377 Germany Jan. 5, 1915 331,937 Great Britain July 17, 1930 484,064 Great Britain Apr. 29, 1938 663,633 France Apr. 9, 1929 917,486 Germany Sept. 6, 1954 

